ELECTION AFTERMATH

Iran vote sparks hope of nuke talks

White House calls result ‘potentially hopeful sign’

WASHINGTON — The surprise victory by Iranian cleric Hasan Rowhani in weekend presidential elections offers a possible opening for resolving a dispute with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, U.S. officials and analysts said on Sunday.

They cautioned that the moderate cleric does not wield the power to enforce changes.

The White House said on Sunday that the election of Mr. Rowhani, a former nuclear negotiator, would be a “potentially hopeful sign” if he lived up to his campaign promises to “come clean” over the nuclear program.

The outcome of the election was considered a rebuke of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s hard-line policies that have led to international sanctions.

But it remains unclear whether Mr. Rowhani’s win will translate to movement on the nuclear issue.

The incoming leader will face many domestic challenges.

First among them is an economy that is suffering from inflation and a weakened currency.

Analysts say both result from international sanctions and economic mismanagement during Ahmadinejad’s eight years in office.

Obama Administration officials have long said the White House is serious about engagement with Iran to end concerns over its nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes.

Since taking office in 2009, President Obama has twice written directly to Ayatollah Khamenei offering direct engagement, provided Iran shows it will not seek to develop nuclear weapons.

“If he [Mr. Rowhani] is interested in, as he has said in his campaign, mending Iran’s relations with the rest of the world, there is an opportunity to do that,” Mr. Obama’s chief of staff, Denis McDonough, told CBS’ Face the Nation.

“But to get to that point, we need him to live up to the obligation on the nuclear program, and if he does, I think there is a great opportunity for Iran and the people of that storied country to have the kind of future they would justifiably want,” he added.

After more than three decades without diplomatic relations, suspicions between Tehran and Washington run deep.

In his initial reaction to the election result, Secretary of State John Kerry urged Mr. Rowhani to keep his election promises, putting pressure on the president-elect to show that he is serious about change.

“In the months ahead, he has the opportunity to keep his promises to the Iranian people,” Mr. Kerry said.

In Tehran, Mr. Rowhani said Sunday that the country’s dire economic problems cannot be solved “overnight.”

He began consulting with the clerically dominated establishment on his policies.